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Thursday, 17 August 2017

Newbury Retro Festival 2017

It's been a while since I last donned some vintage glamour and enjoyed a step back into the past, so I was really looking forward to visiting this year's Retro Festival at Newbury. Firstly, I kept a close eye on the weather - it hasn't been the best of summers so far, so was engrossed in the daily weather reports for the weekend, trying to plan my outfit. Luckily, light cloud and no rain were promised. A good start.

My journey south went all accordingly to plan, too, and by late afternoon I had arrived at my lodgings for the weekend - The Bonk Inn (as I called it, anyway), just a few minutes drive from the Retro Festival site. I took the chance to have a bit of a photo-shoot. Firstly with stockings, high heels, leather opera gloves and leopard-print lingerie...

Some will no doubt feature on my website, and some of the, er, more explicit ones (including some latex pissing shots) may well sneak into my Private Gallery on my Adultwork profile. I'll make sure to do a blog update if they turn out good enough!

The remainder of Friday was spent with friends from Swindon who were also stopping in the same hotel, but with a long day ahead on Saturday we behaved ourselves and didn't stay too long in the inn's fabulous bar.

Saturday dawned bright with the promised light cloud. I had decided on a vintage-styled dress and some vintage-styled high-heeled sandals. Firstly, it also meant lacing myself into a Kiku corset, which I had made purely to sit under clothes to give me a waspish waist.

Dexi Delite Altrincham and Manchester Escort - corseted.

Once dressed and breakfasted, we headed out in good time to the Newbury Showground. Despite our early arrival there were plenty of people already queueing - a promising start.

At 10.00am on the dot the gates opened, and the sun came out too. Once inside the gates we were immediately presented with a line of old army vehicles and music from a little band. Old classic cars and matching gorgeous caravans sat in the mid-morning sun, bright colours and chrome gleaming.

I immediately fell in love with a rusting ratrod pick-up truck, which appealed to my good-time girl desires - perfect for stretching out in the back, lazing away a late summer evening in bluesy Louisiana whilst a denim-clad beau plays me and strums me like a soft-stringed guitar...

We continued strolling into the festival site, past rows of exceptional classic cars. Old charming British cars nestled alongside old American Detroit iron, with no real reason for the grouping, which made the arrangement of vehicles look wonderfully diverse and random.

One piece of Americana certainly looked like it had just arrived from 1970's-era Texas, or straight out of an old Smokey And The Bandit movie. Over-The-Top Rating - 10/10. Pedestrian Protection Rating - a little bit less than 10/10.

Surpassing the horned Cadillac in every way, however, was a batch of over-sized American trucks - perfect for the endless horizon-stretching roads of the USA, not so perfect for the crowded and small roads of the UK. However, the artwork was quite amazing - especially one with depictions of some very hot American gals.

Although the weather was keeping its promise of a rain-free day, the wind was relentless. Sweeping across the flat open space, it buffeted around the parked vehicles and buildings, finding extra strength as it winnowed its way through the displays. It also meant my choice of large vintage-styled hat was, clearly, a bad one. It was a long walk back to the car to drop it in the boot - a safer option as I was becoming increasingly sure it was going to take to flight at some point and whizz away over the festival ground like a frenzied frisbee. At least the clouds were still flitting across the hot sun, diminishing my chance of getting a bit of sunburn on my head.

There were stalls galore, too, selling original vintage and reproduction clothing and memorabilia, and I certainly enjoyed browsing through the various offerings, picking up two vintage dresses. All around the sound of rock'n'roll pervaded the air, interrupted by the rumble of a hotrod passing by or the thundering roar of a World War Two fighter skimming the low clouds above.

We hung around the big beer and dance tent for a while, firstly a DJ getting the dancefloor busy, followed by a rock'n'roll four-piece, keeping the mood and beat jumping, whilst we enjoyed a little alcoholic refreshment and a late lunch - consisting of curry and chips for me. Well, I am a northern lass, after all...

Another stroll, and more hotrods and fabulous classics as far as the eye could see...

That slammed, rusted and chromed-up Ford pick-up was just superb, but I think I still prefer a joyride with Ms Duke herself...

We strolled around the remainder of the festival, taking in all of the sights and sounds of a souped-up yesteryear. In one tent I found something totally different from the wonderfully loud and beautifully brash event - some quite exotic animals, mostly rescued from homes and people that simply didn't want them anymore. For just £1 you could hold one of the lovely creatures. Being a girl who likes to fondle and stroke interesting things, I couldn't say no. First up, a large Bearded Lizard called Ginger.

Like most Aussies that I have met he was quite charming and chilled out, even though he kept making a beeline for my breasts when he thought I wasn't taking notice... like, er, most Aussies that I have met. After five minutes or so the Antipodean lounge lizard went back into his cage. Along came a spider.

This lady was divine and perfectly behaved - content just to sit quite still and steady in my hands. She was much lighter than I expected, and surprisingly warm to the touch, too. When I moved my hands slightly I could feel the retractable claws on her legs clinging on gently. She was lovely and could certainly have taught Ginger a thing or two about manners.

Once she'd had her time in my hands and was carefully placed back in her box it was time for another wander. Although now late afternoon it was clear that we'd still not seen everything that the event had to offer - I didn't get to see any of the burlesque acts, and only saw one band in the music tent, and, on the way back to the car to head home, found more vintage vehicles and stalls that I hadn't got around to looking at. I did, however, manage to pick up one more glamorous outfit - a little bolero jacket and voluminous skirt, in my favourite New Look (as in Dior, not the budget shop!) style. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need a suitably glamorous blouse to go with it though, as the bolero jacket doesn't quite cover everything...

As 5.00pm began to approach we finally headed back to the hotel for a shower and change of clothing before a lovely evening meal and drinks in the charming inn. A lovely day and a fabulous event that went all too quick.